The present invention relates generally to mechanisms for the feeding of objects in a feed path, and in particular to a mechanism such as utilized for the feeding of fruits to processing apparatus such as a juice extractor.
It is presently known in the industry to utilize citrus fruit juice extractors with rotary hoppers that have been designed and developed to improve the overall efficiency of the juice extracting process. Such rotary type hoppers are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,500, wherein the fruits are delivered to the hopper and stored in movable magazines from which they are successively delivered to the juice extracting instrumentalities. The operating efficiency of such hoppers and the juice extracting instrumentalities are in the main dependent upon a proper and suitable control of both the maximum and minimum sizes of the fruit delivered to the hopper or the juice extracting instrumentalities. For example:
1. If too much fruit is permitted to enter the hopper, its feed efficiency will be materially decreased because of the weight of the fruit, or the hopper may overflow.
2. Another important factor results from the possible entry of foreign or tramp materials along with the received fruits, and which may damage the feeder mechanism or the associated instrumentalities of the juice extracting apparatus.
3. Another important factor is concerned with the ability to control and limit the size of fruits admitted to the hopper, in order that oversized fruits too large to pass through the magazines or other restrictive openings will be eliminated.
4. Still another important factor is concerned with the ability to control the minimum fruit size that is fed to the fruit juice extracting instrumentalities. For example, in juice extractors of the cup type, if two undersized fruits enter a cup, one or both fruits may be smashed, or one fruit may simply drop into the juice without having its juice extracted, and thus reduce the juice quality.
The present invention therefore seeks to provide an improved fruit feeder mechanism for controlling the supply and size of fruits delivered to a juice extractor, and in particular to an associated hopper of the rotary type wherein fruits are stored in magazines and successively delivered from the magazines to the juice extractor, and wherein the feeder mechanism is designed to fully encompass the above noted factors and considerations, to the end that a maximum operating efficiency may be maintained during long and highly productive periods of operation.